Matt Corsi, right, and Brian Knoth, left, both fisheries biologists with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, examine a steelhead lifted from the data recording tank in September 2014 at the Lower Granite Dam fish facility on the Snake River in Washington state. (Dean Hare/The Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP)

Matt Corsi, right, and Brian Knoth, left, both fisheries biologists with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, examine a steelhead lifted from the data recording tank in September 2014 at the Lower Granite Dam fish facility on the Snake River in Washington state. (Dean Hare/The Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP)

Judge’s order revives movement to remove Snake River dams

By Nicholas K. Geranios

The Associated Press

SPOKANE — Conservationists and others have renewed a push to remove four giant dams from the Snake River to save wild salmon runs, after a federal judge criticized the government for failing to consider whether breaching the dams would save the fish.

The judge earlier this year rejected the government’s fifth and latest plan for protecting threatened and endangered salmon in the Columbia River system.

Agencies must take a new look at all approaches to managing the southeast Washington dams, including breaching, said U.S. District Court Judge Michael Simon in Portland, Ore.

”This is an action that [government agencies] have done their utmost to avoid considering for decades,” he wrote.

His order triggered 15 public meetings in Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon, where the dam removal issue has percolated for two decades.

The first meeting was held last month, and the final one is scheduled for Dec. 8. After that, a plan to save the salmon must be created.

The Snake River, at just over 1,000 miles, is the 13th longest in the United States, flowing from the western border of Wyoming to its confluence with the mighty Columbia River in Washington. For much of its history, the river and its tributaries produced salmon runs in the millions that sustained Native American tribes who lived near its banks. The best salmon spawning grounds were in Idaho, and were hampered by the construction of the four dams.

Environmental groups said restoring the salmon runs is impossible with the four dams in place.

The dams provide about 5 percent of the region’s electricity, roughly enough power for a city the size of Seattle. A recent report by the federal Bonneville Power Administration said if the Snake River dams are removed, a new natural gas plant would be required to replace the lost electricity.

Thirteen runs of Columbia and Snake river salmon and steelhead remain endangered or threatened despite billions of dollars spent over decades to save them.

Sam Mace, a spokeswoman for Save Our Wild Salmon, said the dams’ benefits are not worth the loss of the iconic fish.

“There is more than one way to get wheat to market,” Mace said. “But salmon only have one way to travel, and that’s in the river.”

Salmon supporters say restored salmon runs will help the economy.

“Healthy salmon populations could support tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars annually in the recreation and tourism economy,” said Liz Hamilton of the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association.

Idaho’s Nez Perce tribe also has called for removing the dams and restoring the fish to harvestable levels.

“The four dams on the lower Snake River have had a devastating impact on salmon,” said McCoy Oatman, the tribe’s vice chairman.

Opponents of breaching the dams say they provide irrigation, hydropower and shipping benefits, and allow grain barges to operate all the way to Lewiston, Idaho, more than 400 miles from the mouth of the Columbia River.

Wheat from as far as North Dakota is shipped downriver by barge for export to Asia. The Snake River also is used to transport about 60 percent of Washington’s wheat and barley crop to Portland. A tug pushing a barge can haul a ton of wheat 576 miles on a single gallon of fuel.

Northwest River Partners, which represents a coalition of businesses and river users, called the dams an important part of the regional economy.

“I think both salmon and the dams are co-existing,” said Terry Flores, director of the Portland-based group. “Why would you take out dams that are providing clean energy and billions of dollars’ worth of commerce?”

However, critics note the river’s barge traffic has experienced a 20-year decline because of competition from trucks and trains.

The four dams were built in the 1960s and 1970s, roughly between Pullman and the Tri-Cities.

Breaching them isn’t something that could be ordered by a court. Because the dams are federal projects, removing them would require action by Congress.

According to the Army Corps of Engineers, more than 90 percent of the river’s young fish survive passage through each dam’s fish ladders. But the total effect from dams and slackwater reservoirs adds up to mortality rates of 50 percent or more for Idaho-spawned fish as they migrate to the ocean. The fish then have to survive several years in the ocean before running the gauntlet of dams again when they return to the Northwest to spawn.

Removing the dams would provide migrating salmon with easier access to thousands of miles of pristine rivers and streams that even with climate change remain cold enough to support salmon and steelhead spawning, environmentalists say.

Debby Stallcop watches for sockeye salmon while counting fish coming through the fish ladder in July 2015 at Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River in Washington state. (Geoff Crimmins/The Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP, File)

Debby Stallcop watches for sockeye salmon while counting fish coming through the fish ladder in July 2015 at Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River in Washington state. (Geoff Crimmins/The Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP, File)

More in News

Bliss Morris of Chimacum, a float builder and driver of the Rhody float, sits in the driver’s seat on Thursday as he checks out sight lines in the 60-foot float he will be piloting in the streets of Port Townsend during the upcoming 90th Rhody Parade on Saturday. Rhody volunteer Mike Ridgway of Port Townsend looks on. (Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News)
Final touches

Bliss Morris of Chimacum, a float builder and driver of the Rhody… Continue reading

Fireworks not likely for Port Angeles on Fourth

Development at port bars launch from land

Jefferson County, YMCA partner with volunteers to build skate park

Agencies could break ground this summer in Quilcene

Peninsula Behavioral Health is bracing for Medicaid cuts

CEO: Program funds 85 percent of costs

Port of Port Angeles is seeking grant dollars for airport

Funding would support hangars, taxiway repair

Volunteer Pam Scott dresses the part as she sells ducks for the Great Olympic Peninsula Duck Derby at the Sequim Farmers and Artisans Market on Saturday. (Leah Leach/for Peninsula Daily News)
Tickets still available for annual Duck Derby

Let us introduce you to the woman in the… Continue reading

Seasonal restrictions upcoming for Hood Canal Bridge

The state Department of Transportation has announced upcoming restrictions on… Continue reading

Craft sessions set to make gifts for Canoe Journey

The public is invited to help create gifts for… Continue reading

Kathy Moses of Port Angeles hammers in stakes that will be used to support a cover for strawberry starts and other plants in her plot in the Fifth Street Community Garden in Port Angeles. Moses was working in a light rain during Thursday’s gardening endeavor. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Plant protection

Kathy Moses of Port Angeles hammers in stakes that will be used… Continue reading

A Clallam County Public Utilities District worker trims sycamore trees on East Washington Street near the Bell Creek Plaza shopping complex in Sequim on Wednesday as part of an effort to clear branches that may interfere with nearby power lines. The clearing helps pave the way for eventual maintenance on the PUD lines. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Clearing the line

A Clallam County Public Utilities District worker trims sycamore trees on East… Continue reading

Funding cuts to hit WSU extensions

Local food purchase program most impacted

Kaylee Oldemeyer, a second-year nursing student, is among those selling tickets for the Great Olympic Peninsula Duck Derby this Sunday. (Leah Leach/for Peninsula Daily News)
Peninsula College nursing program students selling ducks for annual derby

Olympic Medical Center Foundation to give proceeds for scholarships